THE 2015 General Election has provided an opportunity for us in the peace movement to highlight the issues of nuclear war and the scars it has left on humanity since the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This debate is made more urgent with the upcoming decision on the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system, a tragic and criminal waste of resources in a time of austerity.

The campaign for a nuclear free world began in the 1950’s and gained huge momentum in the 1980’s. We kicked nuclear missiles out of Greenham Common and reclaimed it for the people. In the 1982 Labour party conference, we won a two thirds majority for unilateral disarmament. Wales became the first nuclear free country when every county council signed the nuclear free declaration.

We have had setbacks since then, but a recent poll shows that a majority of Welsh voters would choose to get rid of nuclear weapons. It took Scotland 60 years to get the people on the streets of Glasgow to come out in force against Trident, but it is now the policy of the SNP. As we sang in support of a nuclear free Wales, we asked those who took our leaflets to use their precious vote to demand that our government dismantle our nuclear capability.

We took our debate down to the Senedd, where at a rally for Welsh self determination, our large banners calling to scrap Trident were prominent. Yes, Wales will become a nation once again. And, yes – when we gain our freedom, we will rid ourselves of the nuclear nightmare.

Ray Davies, Vice Chair, CND Cymru